Ian Larkin

An interview with Ian Larkin: Smart deployment of new tech gives potential to 'make huge improvements' to important disciplines




In an exclusive interview with Bridging & Commercial, Ian Larkin, CEO at online mortgage broker Trussle, discusses the opportunities for technology in the specialist finance market.

Last month, Trussle appointed Ian as CEO, who joined from Target Group.

He had previously held senior roles at Lloyds Bank, Virgin Money, McKinsey and Accenture.

You mentioned previously that there is tremendous opportunity to leverage technology to transform home financing and mortgage distributionWhat technologic innovations would you like to see in the near future introduced in the specialist finance market?

Generally, across the industry, there’s still a huge amount of paperwork and admin involved. If we’re able to leverage APIs to reduce the administrative burden, brokers will be able to spend more time advising their clients, and it will remove a lot of the hassle for borrowers.

How important, in your opinion, is fintech in the specialist finance market?

Although specialist finance has come a long way during my time in the industry, fintech can play a transformative role. Smart deployment of new technology gives the potential to make huge improvements to important disciplines, including pricing, risk assessment and management, distribution, and customer experience.

How did you get into the industry?

I started out as a consultant helping businesses improve, and finance firms responded best to my advice, which prompted me to transition into leadership roles within the financial industry.

If you didn’t work in finance, what would you be doing?

I’m from Ireland and the most important jobs in Irish towns used to be the priest, the publican and the storyteller — if finance hadn’t found me, my guess is I would be a storyteller! 

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